1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cool air exhaling apparatus in an enforced circulation type refrigerator and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a cool air exhaling apparatus in an enforced circulation type refrigerator and a control method thereof having a simple configuration capable of reducing manufacturing costs and improving productivity as well as improving freezing and refrigerating efficiency of foods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a refrigerator for home use is an enforced circulation type refrigerator which forcibly circulates cool air produced by a flow of a refrigerant using a cool air exhaling apparatus having a cool air circulating fan, a duct, and the like, for freezing foods stored in a freezer compartment and maintaining the freshness of foods stored in a refrigerator compartment. A flow of a cool air in such an enforced circulation type refrigerator will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are longitudinal sectional views illustrating a flow of a cool air in an enforced circulation type refrigerator.
Referring to FIG. 1, evaporators 4 and 4' and cool air circulating fans 6 and 6' are respectively mounted in a freezer compartment 1 and a refrigerator compartment 1'. The cool air flowing from the cool air circulating fans 6 and 6'is exhaled into the inside of the freezer compartment 1 and the refrigerator compartment 1'through respective ducts 3 and 3'. In other words, the cool air produced by the evaporator 4 of the freezer compartment 1 is exhaled into the inside of the freezer compartment 1 by operating the cool air circulating fan 6 of the freezer compartment. Then, the cool air freezes foods stored in the freezer compartment 1 as the cool air circulates the freezer compartment 1, and is returned to the evaporator 4 again. In the same manner, the cool air produced by the evaporator 4' of the refrigerator compartment 1' is exhaled into the inside of the refrigerator compartment 1' by operating the cool air circulating fan 6' of the refrigerator compartment 1'. Then, the cool air lowers the temperature of the refrigerator compartment 1' to a predetermined temperature while circulating the refrigerator compartment 1', and is returned to the evaporator 4' again bypassing a vegetable box 7 at a lower portion of the refrigerator compartment 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, the evaporator 4 and the cool air circulating fan 6 are mounted in only the freezer compartment 1. The cool air which flowed out from the evaporator 4 in the freezer compartment 1 circulates the inside of the freezer compartment 1 and then returns to the evaporator 4 again along a cool air return path 8a formed in an intermediate thermal insulation wall 8. However, some of the cool air flowing out from the evaporator 4 goes down along the duct 3' and is exhaled into the inside of the refrigerator compartment 1'. Thus, the cool air circulates the inside of the refrigerator compartment 1' and is returned to the evaporator 4 again along a cool air return path 8b formed in the intermediate thermal insulation wall bypassing the vegetable box 7.
A duct thermal insulation material 9 prevents dew from forming on an outer wall of a duct cover due to the temperature difference between the cool air in the duct and the refrigerator compartment.
In the enforced circulation type refrigerator as aforementioned, a variety of cool air exhaling apparatuses have been suggested to evenly distribute the cool air at every place in the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment. As illustrated in FIG. 3, in general, a cool air exhaling apparatus has a duct 13 having a predetermined width formed at an intermediate portion of a rear wall of the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment to exhale the cool air from the rear. As illustrated in FIG. 4, another cool air exhaling apparatus has a structure with ducts 14 and 14' which are formed respectively at both sides of the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment to exhale the cool air from both ends of the ducts. Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 5, another cool air exhaling apparatus has a structure with ducts 15 and 15' having a predetermined width formed at the intermediate portion of the rear wall of the freezer compartment and the refrigerator compartment and a shelf 16 having a cool air exhaling hollow 17 combined with the duct 15 so as to exhale the cool air through the shelf 16.
However, the conventional cool air exhaling apparatuses discussed above have several problems.
First, the conventional cool air exhaling apparatuses have a complicated configuration and assembly process. This increases manufacturing costs, reduces productivity and reduces refrigerating efficiency of foods. In other words, to form the cool air apparatuses shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, components such as the duct body, the duct cover, and the shelf have to be mounted separately, which increase the manufacturing costs and reduce productivity due to undesirable assembly processes between the respective components. In addition, since such components complicate the passage of the cool air, a flow speed of the cool air is slowed down, thereby interfering with an even distribution of the cool air in the refrigerator and freezer compartments.
Furthermore, if a door of the freezer compartment or a door of the refrigerator compartment is open in the course of operating the cool air circulating fan, the cool air is likely to flow out through the open door. Thus, in the case of the door being open, the operation of the cool air circulating fan is stopped to prevent the cool air from flowing outside; however, this reduces the cooling efficiency of foods.